Loving New Faces
Yesterday, Tara and I took care of some new kids for a few hours. It was great to get the chance to meet the two "big" kids, who are not very big, just a reference point. A one time experience watching them, but the youngest we will get to watch more.
The oldest, Bailey, is three years old. Everything about her suggests she is older than that. She is verbose, self-posessed, follows directions, etc. She reminded us of a four or five year old, and we were constantly reminding ourselves that she is, in fact, still a toddler. Her favorite color is pink, she likes to watch cartoons, and happily watched short kid-friendly videos (Poky Little Puppy and the Patchwork Blanket, or Ernie singing Would You Like to Visit the Moon) on my cell phone. I think she mostly got a kick out of being able to hold something in her hands, walk around with it, and switch how the screen looked.
Only once, did we get a glimpse of another side of Bailey, when Tara asked her not to take things from her sister. Then, she raised her eyebrow in a superior fashion and waited, to see if Tara's answer would stay the same. My favorite moments with her was watching her take care of her baby doll, who is named after the actual baby. She was so tender, buckling it into the carseat and covering it with a blanket. It was also great when the two youngest were occupied with lunch and Bailey was finished. She wanted to try my Ramen. So I gave her a noodle. That became a fun game and a little moment we could have fun just the two of us. I loved hearing her sweet comments like, "That looks beautiful!" and "You're so silly!"
Katie is still a few months shy of turning two. She can say quite a few words, but it took a while before I was able to understand her. But one thing was clear, from the minute we she saw us, she gleefully said, "Mama!" It was pretty clear that at this age, everyone adult who came through the door that had the potential to be mama, was mama. Even the male cab driver, who came to pick us up at the end of the day. Transitions were hard on her. She didn't like getting down from the table, for example, after breakfast. But did fantastically well after lunch. She could imitate Bailey and hold her big girl cup. She is also fantastically smart. At one year old, she can count to 20, identify several letters of the alphabet correctly, and count backwards. A regular occurrence yesterday was Katie screaming "ONE!" so happily. Eventually, I started repeating after her, and she would keep counting. She was super fascinating, though!
Sabra is the sweetest seven month old ever. She is very serious with an unflinching gaze, which is sort of incongruous when you consider how tiny she is. She is just a sweetie, who loves fleece, zippers or strings on anyone else's clothes. She's also really physically strong and can stand already, and take steps if she is hanging onto something. She took a tumble while we were there, lost her grip on my fleece jacket and fell down. Poor little one, but we made sure she got plenty of love afterward. She napped well when we remembered her pacifier. She loves the bigger girls and they love her. And yes, Bailey's doll is named Sabra, after Sabra. It even resembles her. Very cute.
The oldest, Bailey, is three years old. Everything about her suggests she is older than that. She is verbose, self-posessed, follows directions, etc. She reminded us of a four or five year old, and we were constantly reminding ourselves that she is, in fact, still a toddler. Her favorite color is pink, she likes to watch cartoons, and happily watched short kid-friendly videos (Poky Little Puppy and the Patchwork Blanket, or Ernie singing Would You Like to Visit the Moon) on my cell phone. I think she mostly got a kick out of being able to hold something in her hands, walk around with it, and switch how the screen looked.
Only once, did we get a glimpse of another side of Bailey, when Tara asked her not to take things from her sister. Then, she raised her eyebrow in a superior fashion and waited, to see if Tara's answer would stay the same. My favorite moments with her was watching her take care of her baby doll, who is named after the actual baby. She was so tender, buckling it into the carseat and covering it with a blanket. It was also great when the two youngest were occupied with lunch and Bailey was finished. She wanted to try my Ramen. So I gave her a noodle. That became a fun game and a little moment we could have fun just the two of us. I loved hearing her sweet comments like, "That looks beautiful!" and "You're so silly!"
Katie is still a few months shy of turning two. She can say quite a few words, but it took a while before I was able to understand her. But one thing was clear, from the minute we she saw us, she gleefully said, "Mama!" It was pretty clear that at this age, everyone adult who came through the door that had the potential to be mama, was mama. Even the male cab driver, who came to pick us up at the end of the day. Transitions were hard on her. She didn't like getting down from the table, for example, after breakfast. But did fantastically well after lunch. She could imitate Bailey and hold her big girl cup. She is also fantastically smart. At one year old, she can count to 20, identify several letters of the alphabet correctly, and count backwards. A regular occurrence yesterday was Katie screaming "ONE!" so happily. Eventually, I started repeating after her, and she would keep counting. She was super fascinating, though!
Sabra is the sweetest seven month old ever. She is very serious with an unflinching gaze, which is sort of incongruous when you consider how tiny she is. She is just a sweetie, who loves fleece, zippers or strings on anyone else's clothes. She's also really physically strong and can stand already, and take steps if she is hanging onto something. She took a tumble while we were there, lost her grip on my fleece jacket and fell down. Poor little one, but we made sure she got plenty of love afterward. She napped well when we remembered her pacifier. She loves the bigger girls and they love her. And yes, Bailey's doll is named Sabra, after Sabra. It even resembles her. Very cute.